Memories of Somebody
by MalagBaal
Summary: A story picking up after Memories of Nobody, expanding on the ribbon scene at the end. I've enjoyed writing it, I hope everyone will enjoy reading. If you like Senna, you should. If you don't like Ichigo, you shouldn't be reading Bleach.
1. Karakura Town

_Hello, all weird Bleach Fans. _

_I own in no way any part of the Bleach universe, not even any minor characters yet, which is quite remarkable as I love shoving in new people. Ho hum. Since that seems to acknowledge pretty accurately that I haven't really made up the base that it works around, it's time to get on with the story._

_This next bit in brackets is just rubbish. _

_(Memories of Somebody 1.01: This story takes place assuming that Memories of Nobody comes some time almost directly after the Bounto Arc, which as I progress further into the series seems unlikely. However, this means that Ichigo is still fighting with his inner Hollow, or Hichigo. It's also assuming Rukia is there as she is in Memories of Nobody, so she is already there, not arriving with Toshiro, Matsumoto and co later on. So, it's part AU I suppose, as much as I hate those. In fact, usually I don't just hate AU, I detest it. Oh well. I went to a lot of trouble to try and make this fit perfectly in somewhere, but it's not going to work. _

_Memories of Somebody 1.02: I just reviewed what I've been writing over the past couple of days and I just changed my mind and Ichigo is no longer battling with his inner hollow, I got sick of that idea because I am now past the Hichigo arcs, well, sortof. Anyway, I think it was a bit dodgy and I still think it's going pretty well. I no longer am going to say where it is supposed to go. _

_Memories of Somebody 2.00 – the Final Product, end of Beta! Bwuhahahaha (I am not a fan of the laughing Don guy. I just happen to laugh like him. It's not my fault. Don't sue me! Ahhhh!): Anyway, this Authors Note is now much too long, so last thing I'd like to say is Happy Birthday Jenny, aka (Jenwryn) – I know it's a lot delayed, but the first chapter did come out on your birthday, I just didn't want to put it up until it was finished, look what happened to Shades of Madness afterall, and Ashes of Alterus, groan groan, I still should finish both of them at some stage, my writing styles were so bad back then though and I don't like to change styles mid way. Never mind, this has been fun, Adios. Ps. I am not an Espada and I don't own them either. I just like Spanish. I also speak German. Thankfully that doesn't make me a Bounto either though. _

_Many Aspire – Few Attain: Sisters of Battle, DOW_

_For once, I seem to have attained! What though, no-one knows._

_And as far as quoting DOW – anyone who's played it should understand just how damn quotable it is. I don't own Warhammer 40K either, Games Workshops does in all its expensive glory, and THQ owns Dawn Of War)_

_AN) Ignore all of the above, I'm not actually insane, believe it or not. Just read the story as you go, and enjoy it. Don't look for too much of a purpose as there isn't much of one. The reason it ends on the note it does is not because it's to be continued. It is simply that it is a nice point to end it and I wanted this up for Jenwryn on the 5__th__ March, so I'm a little late as it is. However, there may be more at a later date that uses the Alternate Universe as laid out by this. This story is probably my favourite at the moment, and hopefully everyone else will agree… Ha!_

_Happy Birthday, Jen, much too late for the birthday, I fear._

**Memories of Somebody**

* * *

**Karakura Town**

* * *

Ichigo waited in a short que. By this time of night, there really weren't that many people around anyway, mostly tourists and other such pestilence. He looked around, feeling the wind on his face in the semi-open area which surrounded the base of the Ferris Wheel. It reminded him greatly of a night a month beforehand, just as he'd hoped. Cool, dry – the air seemed clearer than usual, and flashing billboards and advertisements burnt their way into his mind, broadcasting their obnoxious messages to the world, advertisements for absolutely anything a person couldn't want, including one which Ichogo made a mental note of to slash "accidentally" with Zangetsu next time he was chasing a Hollow though this district… An advertisement for a wyrd Elvis Presley impersonator crossing his arms across his chest and shouting "Bwuhahahah…" Rukia need never know… He grinned to himself. She did put her foot down at collateral damage… Maybe he could make a deal with a Hollow to smash it for him in exchange for a head start…

He turned his gaze forwards as the last two people in the que in front of him walked forwards into one of the compartments of the wheel, cameras flashing madly and the pair chattering away in English. Londoners, probably, sounded like they were comparing it to their own wheel back home, no doubt going on about how tiny it was. He watched as they strapped themselves in and, still talking, disappeared upwards, as the wheel gradually ground its way up and around again, leaving another carriage exposed, and this one was empty. He waited behind the white line on the floor which loudly and glaringly dared one to step across it.

The girl behind the counter waved him forwards. He stepped up, and even before she asked, was fumbling around in his pockets. His hand brushed something long and soft and he knew he had the wrong pocket. "200 Yen," said the girl behind the counter with a forced enthusiastic tone.

"Yeah, just hang on a second would you?" he said grumpily, scowling and turning out a pocket and finally finding the wallet he was looking for. You could tell that either your pants were too loose, or your wallet to finely made when you couldn't even tell which pocket it was shoved into. He opened it and found the scraps of money a ticket cost and handed them over.

"Your team?" asked the girl, interest increasing and conversation winding up upon realising that here was a chance to catch a reasonably good looking guy, despite the spiky orange hair, which was cool in a way, she supposed. Certainly stood out in a crowd…

One of Ichigo's eyes twitched involuntarily. "What?" he asked grimly, already knowing what she meant, but not wanting to answer.

"That banner thingy on your wallet."

The price of having Ishida make anything for you: It ended up becoming an icon of the Quincy. Take Kon for example. Ichigo had never had the heart to point out the symbol to Kon. He'd been so happy when Ishida had removed all the frills and pink lace… "Oh. Yeah, I guess so."

Put off rather by this _most _enthusiastic reply, the girl waved him forwards into the compartment. "Last run of the night" she said. "Probably be quick ride, sorry, there aren't many other people up there."

"Yeah. Fine." He'd been up before, years ago, with his family. It'd been a horrifying experience, stuck in a tiny little cabin with his father for what had seemed like hours at the time. Just looking at the cabin brought back nightmares long forgotten and blotted from his mind.

Actually, he had been up here since then, but in soul form, with Rukia, not that Rukia remembered. They had stood upon a cabin as it rose upwards, lifting them high enough to see a portal into the Valley of Screams, within the river that flowed through his city.

He sat down and gave the girl a little wave. She pulled the lever, sending Ichigo upwards, towards the night sky and the stars, above the bustle and brightness of the city of blinding lights. He stopped and wondered why he was doing this again, and his mind drifted back to a hazy conversation which became clearer as he brought it into his consciousness.

"You sure like heights, don't you?"

"That's because when you're up high, all the stuff that looks confusing and messed suddenly becomes crystal clear"

That's why she'd loved heights, another memory of the Memory Rosary, the person whom he had know as Senna.

He reached into the pocket that hadn't held the wallet and pulled. Something long and slender came out, fully unfolding from his pocket on the second tug. He laid it out across over his knees, its smooth lines curving around his skin. A red ribbon. His memories of what had happened were clearer now than they had been for weeks, it was almost as if the ribbon had been a gift – not just of a ribbon as it appeared, but of a memory.

He cursed his decision now, acting without realising that so soon he would be fighting for more time with the very person he'd denied it to. Senna may well have been no-body, a conglomeration of memories and souls, even that of a Shinigami, but there was no doubt she had been a person. Her rescue had been a success, but then she had been faced with a decision no-one could make for her – to allow the world – both Soul Society and the real world – to be destroyed around her, or to save it and know that he had lived on. But real or not, everything was so vague, yet it was clearer than the day before, and the day before that.

_Hey, King? _whined a buzzing voice within his head. _Zangetsu wants to know why it's raining again. _

Ichigo didn't answer.

_I do too…It's wet._

Ichigo still didn't answer, glancing out the window instead.

The lights blinked momentarily and as Ichigo glowered at them, they went out. He growled lowly at them, as if fear would entice them to come back on and then sighed when they failed to obey his will. The lights were always on the blink in here… not really worth complaining about, he supposed. He sat back into the shadows, and continued to think of recent events.

What a simple thing it would have been to take that ride. Students might not have been made of money, but surely he'd had enough – and if not, what was the roof for afterall, if not to stand on?

"To keep the rain out? That's what rooves are normally for…" said a bright voice from next to him. He swung around to his right, instinctively reaching for Zangetsu, despite not being in soul form, while peering into the darkness. He _knew_ that voice though…

"Senna?" he asked disbelievingly.

He was answered with a giggle. "Of course, who else?"

"But you… you left… you died, or something..." he stammered, for once at a loss for words. He placed a hand on the side of the cabin, as if for support.

"You brought me my ribbon!" shouted the girl (Senna?), offering no explanation of any type, and pulling the ribbon from his lap before he could react. The figure sat back in the shadows, as if remembering something. "Ooooh," she said, looking out the window, placing her hands up against the glass. "It's so pretty outsid…" The lights flashed back on.

Her voice cut off suddenly and she vanished as if Ichigo had awoken from a dream as he blinked his eyes, startled by the sudden bright lights. He reached over into the seat beside him. Nothing. But she had been there. Surely it couldn't just have been a dream. It hadn't felt like he'd awakened. But she was gone. Into thin air. He glared at the empty compartment, as if his glower could make it give up its secrets. It won, and he collapsed back into his chair.

The wheel was arcing back down into the lights of the city, away from the stars, just visible though a thin layer of clouds, along with a clearer half crescent moon. Ichigo looked out of the window as the wheel stuttered to a halt one more time before it would reach the ground. Once again he sighed to himself, realising that he probably _had _fallen asleep. He had school all day, and had had two hollows _during _school, and a couple afterwards. Add that to homework, and putting up with his Dad + Kon and he'd had a bloody long day. And he'd been thinking a lot about Senna all afternoon, and on and off, more on than off over the past couple of weeks. The wheel ground back into motion again, interrupting his thoughts and dragging his attention back to the window.

Moments later, the cabin shuddered to a halt, still swinging somewhat as he opened the small door and unfolded himself from the inside.

"Hey, girl, thanks," he said as he walked past the ticket stall on the way out. "See you round sometime…"

She waved as he took off at a jog, and replied to his back, "Maybe!"

Ichigo stopped suddenly, a couple of strides away and spun on one leg to face her again. "Let someone know the lights are on the blink would ya?" he shouted, before taking off again.

*****

The girl frowned to herself. There was nothing wrong with the lights, she'd checked them herself, just the day before and there hadn't been any problems with anyone else's ride… She shook her head, and then sighed, and began to lock up for the night. She'd check them again in the morning.


	2. Kon, the Universe and Everything

**Kon, the Universe and Everything**

* * *

Casually dodging a flying kick from his father, a slightly annoying man to say the least, Ichigo made his way up the stairs to his bedroom, slamming the door as quietly as possible. He didn't want to wake Rukia if possible. He tried not to wince as his father shouted and jumped around on one leg, trying to pull his leg out of the flimsy wall he'd punched through. Ichigo shook his head in despair. His father had been known to climb to Ichigo's second story window and leap through, in an attempt to surprise him. His father, recently had been trying to think up new tactics to surprise him, and was beginning to sulk when they failed miserably. Afterall, what was a slightly deranged father after a hollow, hell, after a Shinigami Captain? Even out of spirit form, his father's attempts to catch him off guard seemed ludicrous these days…

It is a sad fact though, that fathers cannot tell when they are beaten. Or at least, if they can, they won't acknowledge it. There is a hypothesis that it is a form of short term memory loss, and that fathers only remember the occasions on which they win. Ichigo would certainly agree with this, it would explain the way the man just kept coming back for more feet in the face, broken noses and fractured bones. Either this or they are just slow learners.

Anyway, wasn't it past his father's bedtime? It sure as hell felt like it was past his.

Ichigo glanced at the clock beside his bed. The luminous face throbbed malevolently back at him: 12:00pm. Not as late as he'd thought actually, but late enough. His father must have been lying in wait for him. He grimaced. It was another school day tomorrow, no doubt it'd be a pain – he hated having to leave Kon with his body during school: Kon was generally a pain _and_ to make it all the worse was nothing, repeat, NOTHING like Ichigo. For a start, he was always trying to come onto the girls – in Ichigo's body. He'd rather people thought he fainted every time he had to go after a Hollow, only Rukia didn't like that, and Rukia riled up was one of the few things worse than his classmates thinking he was a pervert.

Only just worse though, than coming back to find himself surrounded by paramedics screaming about cardiac arrest or "He's not breathing! Splutter skwark splutter mutter screech." That was pretty bad as well, especially nowadays. If he collapsed during class, people would just go – "Oh, there goes Ichigo again – don't worry about him, he'll get up again at some stage… His nose is broken? He landed on it, eh? Don't worry, he can't feel it."

But then again, at least Kon wasn't as bad as Chappy the bloody rabbit. Every time it took charge of Rukia's gigai he felt like going bankai and making heads roll… Shame it would be Rukia's gigai, but she could get a new one couldn't she? Kon wasn't anywhere near as bad…

"Iiichiiiggoooo!" shouted a small furry thing which launched itself at Ichigo as he stepped into his room. He realised it was only Kon, not a metamorphosed father, when it squeaked when he pinned it to the ground. Upon hearing the pathetic squeak, and the collapse of the small furry body, one would envisage the hero of the program lifting his foot and apologising profusely. Thankfully, he didn't. Rather, he ground his foot harder into the floor, before kicking Kon under the bed with a look on his face which could have been depression or smugness, or a combination of the two.

Mind you, rambled on Ichigo's thoughts, Kon was only _just _better than Chappy the bloody rabbit.

"How many times do I have to ask you not to do that?" ranted Ichigo. Ichigo had long ago given up hope that this small furry, oddly shaped, lion-like stuffed toy would simply go away. His hopes had faded upon the arrival of not just another one mod-soul into the mix, but three… Those three were gone now, leaving only Kon – while not the most ridiculous looking of them, was perhaps the most stupid – and certainly the most annoying. "Shudup anyway, you'll wake the whole house…"

Kon glared mournfully out at Ichigo, from the shadows from beneath the bed. The shadows gobbled up the light and then retreated bitterly backwards, lengthened though, as Ichigo turned off the main light and switched on his bedside lamp. The throbbing clock throbbed all the brighter in the darkness: 12:05. "Nee-san was cranky you were gone."

"She was, eh?"

"She threw me out the window." Well, that wasn't so bad at least, and not unusual either, thought Ichigo. At least she didn't throw anything important, like his schoolwork, or his laptop, or the mouldy peanut in a tin on his desk which Johnny Depp had bitten half off. The wonders of Ebay.

"She took Inoue round to Shinji's n' all…" continued the mod soul.

He groaned, ignoring Kon. Now that he was home, school seemed like a great tragedy, one that was drawing closer at an exponentially increasing velocity. He felt like when he woke up in the morning it would mow him down like a bullet train. Taking care to step on Kon, who yodelled loudly, he flopped onto his bed. The second he had, he knew he'd made a mistake stepping on the yodelling toy from hell. His cupboard door slid open, thudding into another panel with a loud cracking sound.

"Some people are trying to sleep, you know?" stated Rukia Kuchiki with a tone that could be a question, but wasn't. A practiced ear could tell. This meant pretty much only Ichigo as he was basically the only person who got the pokey end of this tone often enough to get practice up.

Somehow nobody had noticed the bed – dare Ichigo say nest – she'd made in there over the last year… Ichigo waited. He knew something more was coming, or she wouldn't have dragged the door open so ominously, she would have just ignored him.

"I had to go out and take on three hollows tonight – I didn't know where you were, or how to contact you…"

"But um, Rukia, you, ah, you can take on a hollow any day, right?"

"That's not the point! What if it had been something else?"

"There isn't anything else in Karakura town – not at the moment anyway. Afro could deal with most of the stuff that pops its ugly head up at the moment…"

He fell silent under her glare.

He reached out and turned the light out.


	3. Loss

**Loss**

* * *

Ichigo woke late. 8:00, or at least that's what his clock said. Rukia was apparently ready to leave – he woke as she dropped one of his text books onto his back. He woke very suddenly

He glowered at her angrily over his pillow. He'd been having a pleasant dream, of what though he didn't remember. All he could remember was the fall of autumn leaves all around… Only he had the strangest feeling it hadn't been the text book which had ended it.

"I'd get a move on if I were you – You're going to be late as it is."

Rather than complaining directly, Ichigo's morning greeting was this: "It's freaky having you around – living in the bloody cupboard… How no-one's noticed you after all this time I'll never understand."

"Skill." She said, and jumping lightly out his window.

Ichigo frowned. There had to be more to it than that – somebody must have, noticed a girl hopping out of his two story window every morning, surely? How about the makeshift bed, mattress included, in his cupboard. Or the conversations with himself? Or the yelling matches, even with Kon? He sometimes thought Karin might know something, but the other two? If they really had never noticed anything, he only had one word to sum them up: Dimwits.

He got dressed for school, and then glancing at his clock again, groaned. He wished he could go to spirit form and shunpo to school. He'd be there in a second, and then he could eat first… But he'd have to carry his body and people saw a lifeless Ichigo enough. If they saw one flying the air on the other hand, they might decide something else was up. Either that or they'd go to see the shrink.

Ichigo made it out the door five minutes later, and ran as quickly as he could towards the school. He wanted to be there on time today for once.

Life had other plans. He hit a corner, stopped for a second and then realised that the throbbing on his chest wasn't a heart attack. His substitute Shinigami badge was pulsing, which could only mean one thing. _Not gonna make it, not gonna make it, _sung the voice in his head, sniggering. _Shut up, _he replied.

A damn Hollow had turned up before he could even get to school… He looked at his school bag, and was faced with a choice between sending Kon to school, or whacking himself with his badge. It wasn't much of a choice. He whacked himself with his badge. He left his body and turned to see it fall down onto its face. He grimaced. He supposed he probably should do that lying down, he'd nearly broken his body's nose a couple of times now. Kon must have worked out what was going on, because he was screaming at Ichigo to let him take the body, as Ichigo sped away towards the Hollow.

The Hollow turned out to be b grade, no make that c grade, at best and Ichigo wondered why he'd even bothered to come take it out. It felt like a two year old with an ounce of reiatsu could have knocked the thing through a brick wall it was so weak. It was like a spinegaunt to a Hive Tyrant. It steps on it, keeps on going and doesn't even notice. And yet, a year ago, he didn't know that Hollows even existed, and that pathetic little thing he'd just fought could probably have wiped the floor with him. In fact, it was rather like the one he'd had such difficulty dispatching with the Bwuhahaha man. This was, in Ichigo's opinion a good reason to attempt to forget the whole thing.

In less than a minute he'd sent it on its way, splitting its white mask in half, and dispersing it into a black cloud of dust which drifted away in a slight breeze. Fertiliser. Well, not really, but it was a nice thought.

As Ichigo returned to his fallen body, and school gear, which were remarkable un-noticed, or at least remarkably well ignored by passers by,(It was an old-folks district. Old folk tend to reminisce over the good old days when everyone was thoughtful and helpful, while at the same time being less friendly and helpful than the average teen, and no doubt providing inspiration for many young folk to be less thoughtful and helpful. This is what Ichigo was thinking. Unbeknownst to Ichigo, however, several people had stopped briefly to help but then had made a wide de-tour around upon hearing a string of curses emitting form the bag lying at the side of the orange haired boy, and passers by had thus naturally assumed he was faking it) and set off towards school again. He paused, and as he had gotten into the habit of doing recently, he reached into his back pocket and felt… nothing? He delved somewhat deeper and then he realised – It was gone. His ribbon – Senna's ribbon – His memory of somebody – had vanished.

He stopped momentarily and thought of Senna – his memories of her were just as clear as they had been before he'd realised his loss, and he suppressed a sigh of relief. He'd been hanging onto it as if it had returned his memories, but perhaps the ribbon had just triggered them… That would be the most logical explanation, but what was logical to a guy who could jump tall buildings and shunpo at sonic speeds – and fight in a similar fashion – to someone who's Bankai had been so fast that the first time he'd used it he'd broken all the bones in his body? Illogical was second nature to him…

Ichigo pulled himself together, promising himself that he'd look for the ribbon at home, and trying to convince himself that Karin had just used it on Kon's tail. His attempt failed. Kon was here, and without a ribbon. It was at home. It must be.

Or at the Ferris wheel? He shook his head and tried to forget about it. School was more important now, and afterall, a ribbon was just a ribbon. Almost worth nothing – he could just go buy another if he really wanted to. But he knew that it wouldn't be carried to him upon a wind sown with autumn leaves… He walked onwards.


	4. School

**School**

* * *

The school loomed up before him before he was ready for it. Its bulk jutted out of the ground, a multi-story glass and steel construction that looked twice as ugly from the outside as it did from the inside… a feature that it did not make it unique among the schools of the world.

Ichigo walked into school and ignored the sideways glances of the general population, most of whom were heading off to classes already. As of late, most people had begun to see him as being aloof, or arrogant, keeping to his little cluster of friends, Ishida, Rukia, Chad and Inoue, those that had generally fought alongside him throughout time. (he was actually quite happy with this. He only wished Kaigo would follow their lead and leave him alone) People with whom he'd shared his secrets, or most of them at any rate with, simply because they, like him, had unusual powers, or, in the case of Rukia wasn't even really human at all. But now he had something which even when he'd tried, once, briefly with Rukia he couldn't explain. No-one else remembered not even Urahaya-san it seemed, or any of the older Shinigami.

To them, it was as if Senna had never existed.

Ichigo _was _late. As he stepped into class and filed his way though a room of already seated students, he was aware of the malignant glare of his teacher on the back of his neck. She had developed an outward immunity to Ichigo's lack of attendance, after writing to his father about it countless times and never getting back anything more than a comment on how Ichigo's marks seemed to be doing fine anyway, which was true. Another weird thing about his family. It was almost as if his father understood what he was doing.

But regardless of her outward immunity, it was clear that she strongly disapproved of his spotty looking attendance records. To top it off, she clearly felt that there was some kind of conspiracy going on as all the countless "exchange students" that were continually popping up in his class seemed to know him. Her theories were borderline extreme, ranging more towards the "mafia"end of the conspiracy table than the "old friends**" **end

He could understand where she was coming from in a way, in particular after the time Toshiro, Matsumoto, Renji, Ikkaku and Yumichkia had all turned up at once, saying they were exchange students, who miraculously seemed to know Ichigo very well. Seriously, little Whitey, Boobies, Mr Tattoo, Baldy and Vanity Fair all turning up in a theoretically unrelated fashion and knowing him and each other? What were the chances of that? Matsumoto was a conspiracy all by herself. Where had she found that uniform, Ichigo wondered, not for the first time. He dragged his mind back to the present. Ah. That's right, the teacher from hell + conspiracies vs Ichigo.

He supposed he should get Rukia to do the whole memory erasure thing at some time, but the woman actually seemed to enjoy it if anything… Of course, Rukia had already used the memory replacement duck thingy once or twice on her, and she cheerfully forgot all about it for a while, but, eventually, the old suspicions would re-surface again.

Ichigo sat back in his chair in the most casual manner possible with the evil eye upon him and waited.

She stared at him a moment longer, wonder why she felt something should be amiss, shook her head and set the class to work.

Ichigo = 1. Teacher From Hell + conspiracies = 0

*****

Midmorning came and went, and soon lunch was upon them, swooping ever lower like a great black vulture. Oh, that's death, not lunch. Lunch merely wafted on from midmorning.

"And not one stinking hollow" said Ichigo loudly as he walked out of the classroom and made his way to the rooftop area with the rest of the class.

Rukia turned head momentarily towards him, apparently unappreciative of his nonchalant air, in particular when dealing with things or talking about things no-one else was supposed to know about…

It's worse than State Secrets thought Ichigo… Only it's Soul Secrets, or something equally daft. Not that anyone would believe him if he started raving on about Soul Society and how he was a Shinigami anyway… He didn't really understand what she was worried about half the time.

Ichigo sat down near the edge of the building and looked out over the town though the railing of the eating area. Today he sat alone. Rukia, Inoue and Tatsuki talked together, with a further huddle of girls who tried to get in on the conversation. Chad was being pestered by Kaigo on other side of the area. Ichigo suppressed a snigger and tried to feel something resembling sympathy for Chad… Nothing came, except thankfulness that it wasn't him for once at the receiving end of that chibi face. He looked like something out of a bad manga some days, most of the time come to think of it actually… Ishida was no-where to be seen… he was probably still in the classroom helping some of the girls with some kind of sewing or stitching or something else to do with material.

He sighed and looked away from his classmates, out over the cityscape. Skyscrapers, like those in his mind lined his horizon, and nothing could be seen behind them through a thin white haze. They shone in the sunlight, glass reflecting and refracting in every direction. The river wound a course between them. Senna's bridge. He frowned, remembering the ribbon once more, despite his best efforts to forget about it.

"Pretty, isn't it?" asked a voice from beside his elbow.

Ichigo let out a strangled cry and nearly fell off his seat. He pushed away from the bars, keeping himself upright, _barely, _and primed his best scowl for whoever had snuck up on him while he was staring peacefully out over the Karakura town. He looked up and choked on his complaint in surprise.

"Senna?" he exclaimed.

She nodded from her position lying down on the nearest wooden bench to him, her head cradled in her hands, elbows propping her up. She was wearing much the same clothes as when they'd first met – a light brown shirt and dark brown skirt, her hair back with the red ribbon – her red ribbon, the only different factor to when they'd first met… She got that soon afterwards.

"Who else?" She gave him the face he'd been about to give to her… "That's what you asked me last night… And once again, who else would it be, Ichigo?" She sniffed. "How many other girls are you going out with then, if you can't even remember me…"

Ichigo shook his head, trying to clear it. Senna… Senna was dead. She couldn't really be here, could she?

"Inoue, Rukia," she said, counting them off on her fingers, "Neliel, hmm, I guess you couldn't really include Ririn, hey, I saw you chatting up that girl at the ferris wheel…"

"I'm not going out with them…" spluttered Ichigo, still thinking things through. "That _was _you at the ferris wheel last night!" he shouted. Several bemused faces turned his way. If she was dead… "You're not real, are you?" he said triumphantly. Before she could answer, he shouted across the rooftop, to Ishida, who had just exited to the rooftop with a group of the sewing club girls, who if they'd been any more gang-like, would have been clinging to him. "The Blue Crosses," the club was called. Ishida shook them off in a polite fashion, and made his way across to Ichigo.

"Yes?" asked Ishida, sounding like he was doing a very good job at not sounding impatient before he even started, although clearly he wasn't doing that good a job as Ichigo could tell he was trying to do a very good job. Ishida believed that Kurosaki Ichigo was good for some things… Killing things yes, but, small talk, in his opinion was, sadly, not one his uses them.

Probably not a good choice to ask whether or not he was insane, thought Ichigo, but unless he wanted to attract too much attention, his best choice until after school… And he wasn't waiting to ask this question. He braced himself, and asked it, fearing the worst.

"Can you see the small girl with a red ribbon, black hair, large orange-golden eyes that's standing right beside me?"

Ishida narrowed his eyes somewhat suspiciously, as if suspecting some kind of bad joke. Ichigo felt like it was all a bad joke.

"I'm not that small you know" said Senna angrily, stretching up onto tiptoes, stretching up above him from her position upon the school bench.

"Umm. No?" ventured Ishida. "Are you feeling alright, Kurosaki?

Ichigo seemed to shrink somewhat as a momentary look of depression covered his face. His mind was lost. He instantly covered it up, and said nothing as Ishida continued.

"I'm at least as big as Rukia!" declared Senna, standing up on her chair and pointing an accusatory finger at Ichigo.

"That sounds a lot like the girl you described from that dream about Soul Society and the Real World colliding…" replied Ishida, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a well practiced finger.

"Yes, I guess so…" said Ichigo, resigning himself to the fact that he was now not only a Captain Class Shinigami and a Vizard, but also clinically insane.

"Urahaya-San said it might be something to do with overusing Hichigo…"

Secretly Ichigo felt that Urahaya-San new more than he was letting on about the valley of screams and the Memory Rosary – he certainly knew about the theory… He had at the time, been the one to explain it all to them. Hichigo, his inner hollow, sounded like a good excuse though, which is why Ichigo suspected Urahaya-San had used it.

"Ha!" shouted Ichigo. "Got ya!"

Ishida frowned as if he'd been expecting something of this level. Ichigo couldn't think why.

"You should have seen the look on your face! You don't seriously think I thought there was a girl here…" he said waving his hand though the air above an indignant looking Senna's head "… did you?"

Ishida maintained his disapproving frown. "Some days, Kurosaki, your sense of humour sails wide over my head," he muttered before stalking off to the opposite side of the rooftop.

"You're mean!" burst out Senna. "Just because the Quincy couldn't see me doesn't mean I'm not real!"

"Of course it does," muttered Ichigo out of the side of his mouth. "Now, subconscious, whatever you are, ping off would you, before everyone gets the impression I'm even madder than they thought I was. If Ishida can't see you, you're not a soul, if you're not a soul, or even a whole bunch of souls, you're not real."

"I never said I was a soul!" said Senna. "I'm as real as you are!" Ichigo almost relented, as she looked about to cry. It's not real, he thought, "I don't have to be a soul to be real…" She paused and glowered at Ichigo. Ichigo ignored her.

The last thing he needed right now was part of his mind going nuts on him. He sat back down on the bench and sighed again, shaking his head. "You need proof I'm real?" asked Senna, really crying now. She pulled the ribbon from her hair, which hung back loosely over her shoulders without it. She held it out, and dropped it. Unthinkingly, he held out his hand, and caught it. He blinked. Senna was gone. Again.


	5. To See the World in Black and White

**To See the World in Black and White**

* * *

School finished with the violent rattling of a bell, and the rush of feet in the lower stories of the school and past the door of Ichigo's class. This noise faded into the bustle of his own class, as the less enthusiastic older years slowly packed the room, and began to exit, in clusters of two and three. Ichigo hauled himself to his feet, and thanked the world that the ghost Senna had not re-appeared again - Ancient history was hard enough at the best of times, without an imaginary Senna leering over his shoulder. She hadn't reappeared, he thought again, thinking things over to himself.

However, the ribbon remained. This proved one of two things:

Firstly, it was possible the ghost Senna was actually real in some form or another, a memory trapped within the ribbon. It would make it more plausible that it had miraculously appeared out of nowhere. This idea was Ichigo's favourite as it pulled him just outside of the "clinically insane" category, and placed him in the "Stable until proven otherwise" basket.

The second, was less satisfying… It was that he _was _completely mad, and had imagined losing the ribbon, had actually brought it to school with him, hallucinated Senna and then pulled the ribbon out of his pocket just in time to imagine catching it as Senna vanished.

Ichigo closed his eyes briefly, his hand clamping around the ribbon in his pocket. Either way, he wanted to know. Even if it was the second…

He lifted his chair up onto the table, and it scraped into position beside Rukia's, and he headed for the door, avoiding the sparse pockets of miscellanea which classmates were still tidying away.

He slung his bag from his hands to one shoulder and headed out of school. Almost straight away he heard footsteps racing to catch up with him. He waited for the irritating squark. If it was Kaigo, he wasn't in the mood. He had the perfect spin kick lined up for him, when… "Kurosaki-kun!" rang out Inoue's voice. "Kuchiki-san agreed to go shopping with me!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, not really seeing how this related to him.

"So she won't be walking home with you…" continued Inoue.

"Oh. Ok" He said. "Tell her I'll see her later… and she's on hollow duty today!" said Ichigo hopefully, pointing a finger at Inoue. "Make sure she gets that." Rukia would complain, but he could deal with that later, and if he could get away without talking to her, she was stuck with it. Right now though, he needed to lock himself into his room for a couple of hours and sort things out. He needed to call up Senna again… and there was someone else he had to talk to who was the nearest thing he knew to an expert of intangible memories or powers… And if that didn't work there was always Urahaya-san to fall back onto, or Shinji and the Vizard maybe – but that was a dubious bet at best.

He pulled the loose strap of the backpack up over his other shoulder and slouched out of the school, waving goodbye to Rukia and Inoue who passed him by, Inoue pulling on a rather put upon looking Rukia's hand and dragging her enthusiastically forward by it. Trapped! He thought with an evil grin. No way was she going to escape Inoue long enough to talk to him and shrug off hollow duty. He could vaguely make out Inoue saying… "It'll be just like with Rangiku-san!" … before they passed out of earshot, although he was rather certain Rukia didn't feel much like Matsumoto did towards shopping – or eating for that matter – with Inoue.

He set off towards his house at a light jog, leaving school to the teachers, and the hollows to Rukia.

*****

Ichigo unslung the bag and let it fly. It skidded across the floor, buckles whining. It came to rest somewhere beneath his bed, leaving his room in its usual spotless state. That's why his bed covers hung to the floor. To have a totally tidy bedroom was _unnatural _at best, but he'd never have told anyone else that.

Ichigo smirked slightly as a muffled voice began complaining from under his bed, and then said clearly "Shutup for now, Kon, or I'll give you to Yuzu…" Kon understood the threat clearly – the threat of lace and dinner parties – and wisely ceased protesting, and settled back for a long wait within a small, solid aluminium suitcase which had mysteriously appeared there about a week after Kon's first arrival. It was semi-soundproofed. Kon had wondered what it was for at the time, and now, after many sessions within it he knew all to well its purpose.

Ichigo tugged the ribbon from the pocket which it once again had been shoved into, before sprawling out on his bed. There came the protesting creak of the springs under his weight followed by a slight crunching noise as it banged into some over-sized project which had been stashed away beneath at a change in interests. He placed the ribbon on his bedside table, and then took his hand away from it. He laid his head back onto his pillow, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, nothing had changed. He almost sighed out loud in relief… he'd been trying to do something he hadn't really wanted to do. But nothing had happened afterall. Now, to see about calling up Senna.

He sat up on his bed, and felt something wasn't quite right. Something behind him…

"Waaaaaaaaggghhh!" screamed a voice that vibrated in his ears. He fell off his bed spinning around to see.

"Hey King!" said Hichigo Shirosaki's voice from on top of his bed, looking down at him where he lay on the ground. Ichigo glared at him.

"Classic Ork battlecry." he said merrily, or at least as merrily as an evil albino clone of Ichigo done in black and white with yellow eyes could speak. He was wearing a T-shirt, the same as Ichigo's except the "15" on it was written in mirror writing, and of course was without colour. "Orks is da biggest and da bestest!"

"I thought we agreed that you were beneath me I won fair and square… And how do you know that?" asked Ichigo angrily.

"Sure, sure, that's why I called ya King, Your Majesty." Hichigo paused momentarily and then tilted his head to one side and looked Ichigo in the eye. "And as for the second question: anything you know, I know." He paused and frowned, his usually manic grin fading away momentarily. "I assume this is about the girl, King?"

Ichigo's eyes opened in surprise before narrowing again. "Of course you'd know… So, if you know, what can you tell me about it?"

"All I know is she's grating on my nerves. This head ain't big enough for the four of us!" he said, his grin returning. "What, with Zangetsu, you and I in here it was crowded enough already, let alone with the freaky little Ms Happy to top it all off. I mean seriously, King there's something wrong with her, two things: She doesn't think I look scary and yet she doesn't even like my smile! Can you believe it? And then I scream at her, and so she says I'm mean. Seriously, no respect at all…"

Ichigo refrained from commenting, and waited, hoping he had let Hichigo loose for a reason other than to freak him out. He mostly tried to forget the Hollow existed: He could hear him whispering sometimes at night, but he rarely caught anything distinct unless he released him. From what he'd heard, the way he "released" Hichigo was very much like the way some normal, high level Shinigami achieved "visualisation" to talk with their swords. A disturbing thought. Ichigo however, was uncomfortably aware, that unlike Zangetsu, Hichigo would swallow him up given half a chance.

"I was hoping you'd know. I'm sure it has something to do with this…" Ichigo said, breaking in on Hichigo's rant and scooping the ribbon up from his bedside desk and letting it trail out on either side of his hand. It was cool, like holding a sliver of breeze.

Hichigo stared at it, narrowing his eyes, squinting with his yellow pupils, as if seeing something and yet not quite understanding it, or perhaps not quite believing it. "To see the world in black and white… no colour … or light…" sang Hichigo quietly, suddenly.

"What?" asked Ichigo, gritting his teeth. He hated it when Hichigo drew on his memories; despite the fact the Hollow clearly had nothing better to do with his time.

"It's a Coldplay song, ya know?"

"And?"

"_I _see the world in black and white. Except the spirit lines. Even _I _can see the red ones and distinguish them as those of a Shinigami." Hichigo grinned, as if enjoying a private joke. On second thoughts, he looked like that all the time. He probably was, thought Ichigo.

"Your point?"

"I see everything in this room in black and white, different tones true, but still in between white and black. _That _ribbon," he said, pointing a hand at Senna's ribbon, "is red to me."

"This?" asked Ichigo in surprise. "But it has no reiatsu at all… Even I can tell that." Ichigo knew that he was lousy at sensing reiatsu, but he figured even he would have picked up if it was harbouring a soul. And Ishida or Rukia or someone else would certainly have picked it up if he'd been carrying a soul around in his back pocket, even if he hadn't noticed.

Ichigo sighed, and thought of Senna. When he opened his eyes, Hichigo had his mouth open and was pointing a finger over Ichigo's shoulder melodramatically. "She comes out without being called? No fair!" he shouted.

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched, but rather than picking Hichigo up by the shirt and pushing him out a window, (Which he felt would be rather difficult to do to someone who wasn't actually there), he let it pass.

"Hey Senna," said Ichigo turning around to face her. She sat on his bed, swinging her legs.

"I thought that was a pretty good Ichigo face," said Hichigo to Senna. "I got the gob-smacked idiot look down perfectly I thought…"

"Boring!" said Senna, completely ignoring Hichigo, apparently engrossed once more in her summing up of Ichigo's room. "Your rooms exactly the same as last time! Like I said, boy's rooms are boring. What's with that guy?" she asked Ichigo pointing at Hichigo without looking at him.

"I'm his inner power!" boasted Hichigo waving a hand around wildly. "Without me Ichigo = sucky"

"He's funny!" giggled Senna. "He's all black and white, like a Joker. Can we buy him some bells?"

A deadly silence filled the room. It was broken after several long seconds by Hichigo himself, who said, "If it's not bad enough being subdued by a second rate captain class Shinigami, I have to put up with some tiny little golden eyed girl calling me funny… Me!? Look here, I'm the most famousest of hollowses…"

"You're a hollow?" asked Senna, seemingly in surprise, apparently choosing to ignore being called "tiny" for once. "That's why you're all black and white then? But you don't look anything like a hollow, they normally have masks and stuff."

"Oh, God," muttered Ichigo raising one despairing hand to his forehead. A small smile lifted one side of his mouth though.

Suddenly Hichigo didn't seem so creepy. Colour clashed with his warped attitude, and Ichigo began to see the funny side… Senna brought light to the world of the horizontal city, and the clouds seemed to part…Hichigo seemed less his enemy now than he had a this morning ago – not that that meant he could let his guard down, but perhaps it would be a better world within. Zangetsu and Hichigo were irrevocably intertwined, like Zangetsu and Ichigo himself. Senna – or her memory at least – was from outside, something which could spark change. Ichigo had long ago come to terms with using his power… forcing his Inner Hollow to do his will. He'd never come to terms with Hichigo, the essence of this power. Perhaps he could afterall though…

Ichigo sat still for a moment, his eyes closed. But had the clouds ever been only over Hichigo? He doubted it – the last month since Senna had left, or died, or vanished, or whatever, had been the worst ever.

"Iiiichigo! Hichigo left," said Senna, and he opened his eyes again to find her waving a hand in front of his face. "Are you all there?" she asked rudely.

"Yeah, yeah Senna, I'm here…" He lifted the ribbon which he still held in his hand up to Senna's. "This is yours… I'm sorry I questioned it as anything but a gift, and a real one at that."

Senna's eyes brightened, and she took the ribbon from him. "Do you remember getting this for me?" she asked suddenly. "I'd acquired it accidentally, and then… forgotten to pay – and you went back and payed for it! I couldn't believe it."

He smiled slightly at the memory, another memory. "Of course I remember."

Senna sat up straight next to him, and then asked "Can I stay here now?" she asked, clutching the red ribbon in her hand, and putting the other around his waist.

"Yes," he said, placing his own arm over her shoulders.

"I'll always be here then," she said happily.

She snuggled up against him, and he began having difficulty remembering that she was not in fact, real at all. Despite the fact he was now leaning partly on her… how did that work?

He didn't really care.

_Hey, King? _muttered Hichigo. _The sun is shining._


	6. Mirokumaru

**Mirokumaru**

* * *

Ichigo was awoken what seemed like minutes later, sprawled out over the bed when Rukia kicked his knee. "Hey!" she said.

Ichigo grunted, rolled over and pulled his knee up onto the bed with him, and rubbed it.

"That hurt," he grumbled angrily at her. He tried to remember what he'd done to deserve that. Oh. That's right.

"How could you shove off hollow duty onto me and Inoue when all you want to do is come home and nap? That's what night time is for, that's why Afro is here, he works the night shift, and if he bumps into anything too big and nasty lets us know… Daytime=you working. Ichigo=Substitute Shinigami – aren't you?" She stood over his bed, arms folded for a couple of seconds, before wandering over towards the windowsill and sitting down on it.

Ichigo scowled angrily at her. He looked around the room. His ribbon was gone, all the proof he needed… "I don't need you telling me about it…" he said. "I wanted one afternoon off. Anyway, why are you here if you're not working?" he asked angrily.

"I was ordered to be here… and I wanted to be. That doesn't mean Hollows aren't your job."

Ichigo sighed. She _was _afterall right. A year ago he had made the choice to become a Shinigami – to take up part of Rukia's power and wield it to save himself, Rukia and his family. He'd absorbed all her powers by mistake and he'd been forced to carry out her work for her – and then when he had lost her powers, he had discovered his own latent Shinigami powers, which were why he'd absorbed all of hers in the first place. "Yeah. I know," he replied. For a moment they remained silent, Rukia sitting on his windowsill, him on his bed. The curtains waved slightly in the breeze, and the last rays of the sun streaked in through the window, golden rays seemingly piercing the low clouds on the horizon, lances of light through darkness.

He was about to tell her that he knew, and that he was sorry, when a loud and pervasive beeping entered into the room. Rukia looked up sharply, and then without a word pulled her phone from a shirt pocket.

"Hollow," said Rukia unnecessarily.

"Let's go!" said Ichigo, perhaps a little overenthusiastically. Rukia looked at him suspiciously, seeing if he was somehow making fun of her, before popping a chappy pill and leaving behind her gigai, leaping out the window. Ichigo slammed himself with his Shinigami badge and followed her with a quick kick off before the Chappy soul replacement pill could orient itself and latch onto him. It seemed to have developed a dislike for him… Maybe he should have used Kon and told him to keep his body away from the thing. Too late now, he thought as his knees bent slightly as he touched down lightly on the ground outside his house.

He brushed through past the long grass near the gate, the only spot the mower never seemed to reach, before he used a brief shunpo down the street after Rukia. In a flash, he had caught up with her, and they ran side by side. Houses sped by on either side of them, early lights beginning to through shadows upon the darkening streets.

Somewhere nearby, a Hollow howled.

*****

Minutes later, Ichigo took in the scene beneath him at a glance. A low strength Hollow, black and almost dog like in shape, its white mask alone distinguish it as a Hollow. It had a human soul backed up against a wall, his spirit chain clinking softly as he looked around wildly for escape. There was none, the hollow having backed him up against not just a wall, but that of a dead end alley. The Hollow charged.

The man threw up his arms in an attempt to shield himself against the certain impact, but to his amazement, felt none. When he opened his eyes again, a black robed figure with orange hair stood before him. The figure radiated calm, and above all, a casual, laid back attitude, as if this was just a daily act – Yeah mate, I just saw that wee little big doggy thingy chargin' at ya and thought I'd stop it for ya.

The figure had blocked its headlong, seemingly unstoppable charge with the flat of a massive, sword, what looked like a cross between a katana and a cleaver – and then in the blink of an eye, too fast to follow, he took a step backwards, and swung the sword over his head in an enormous arc, bisecting its mask.

The black robed figure turned to face him, and as he did so, the monster behind him dispersed into a cloud of dark mist, which drifted away into the sunset. It was just a boy, well, a young man anyway, the soul saw – and yet he was clearly so much vastly stronger than the creature which had chased him.

The man hesitated, not sure whether or not to be more terrified than he had been before, but when the boy smiled slightly he relaxed somewhat. For a second, he'd almost been suspecting another monster, but even now he remained somewhat anxious, eyeing the immense sword the boy carried loosely in one hand as if it weighed nothing.

A wind blew, ruffling his spiky orange hair in the twilight. He spoke. "Hey there," he said.

This was, admittedly somewhat of an anti-climax. The soul had died, and then just spent the better part of half an hour being chased around by some evil critter and was saved at the last second by this boy and then he says: "Hey there" as if he'd only just spotted him and the monster slaying was just part of his daily routine. Of course, he couldn't know that it was just part of Ichigo's daily routine.

There was a slight ripping noise, like air through a high speed tunnel and a girl appeared beside him, with a heart shaped face and black hair, one long, fat strand of which hung lazily between her eyes. Ichigo had received many a glare for calling it her "nii-sama strand" in an imitation of her own voice.

She looked from Ichigo to the soul. "Well?" she said.

"Oh, yeah, yeah," said Ichigo. He raised his sword above his shoulder and walked over to the soul, its hilt at around a head height. "Look," he said. "I imagine you know you're dead already, most of you do…"

Ichigo paused momentarily here, and waited for the soul to say something. The soul nodded his head. That would do. Some of them hadn't realised they were dead by the time Ichigo reached them. It never took much convincing, but it had been rather annoying on some occasions. (What? I'm dead? Oh, so that's why I'm standing over my corpse with a chain attached to my chest and no-one can see me!)

"… so, if you do, let's get on with it. I'm a Shinigami, you're a soul, this is Rukia, by the way, and we're here to perform a soul burial, otherwise you end up getting eaten by a big nasty critter, or you turn into yon big nasty critter."

"So you're here to uhh… what exactly? Send me to heaven?"

"Give that man a coconut!" said Ichigo happily, almost shouting it. "First go!"

"Do I get any last words to send along to friends and family… ah?" He paused, glancing hopefully at Ichigo.

Ichigo scowled at him. "Do I look like a messenger boy?" he asked. "Sorry, but the dead don't talk…" Well, they do, but they don't get heard… normally. Ah, whatever, he thought, trying not to confuse himself.

The man raised an eyebrow and seemed to almost laugh at the attitude of his rescuer. He wasn't so evil afterall. "So I'm dead anyway?" he asked, seeming to grasp the fact that these two were here to send him along. He'd know that it couldn't be right for him to be wandering the world with no aim nor purpose, and the lack of other stranded souls suggested that most continued along by themselves.

"Yes," said Rukaia, the tip of the hilt of Ichigo's sword glowing blue now. "You should be happy in Soul Society: you might even meet up with others you knew from the real world… everyone goes there eventually."

"Good luck," said Ichigo as he leaned forward and pressed the end of the hilt of his sword gently to the soul's forehead. The soul let out a long sigh, before dispersing into white stars and rising towards the heavens.

"Well that's that done," said Ichigo. "Any more, or can we head off home for now?" He stepped forwards, looking forward to bed. Fleetingly he felt like he should have done more, but what else could he do? It'd been a long day, and a late night the night before. Rukia did not follow him.

Ichigo turned around and looked at her. "What?" he asked, staring at her. She stared back. But not at him, rather at something on his waist, on his left.

He looked down. "What the hell … is that?!" he asked in a mixture of surprise and shock. A small katana with a red and gold hilt hung at his side, its square guard unadorned aside from some leafy looking markings. Now he felt its weight – how he had missed it before that he had no idea.

"I don't know…" said Rukia softly. She had never before seen anything remotely like it in context with Ichigo. For a start, his sword was permanently in Shikai – he had never been able to re-seal it again, (Not that he'd really tried – in fact, he had so much excess reiatsu, that he had once or twice forgotten to go out of Bankai) and secondly, even before he had first unlocked it, it was a good three times longer than this sword. No a wonder Ichigo hadn't even noticed it… Compared to his, it must have weighed nothing, despite how light Zanpakutou were compared to normal katanas.

"I think I know," said Ichigo quietly. "This is Senna's sword." He remembered it, vaguely, clouded above the memories, recent and past of the girl herself. _Mirokumaru…_

Rukia looked at him blankly. "The girl from your dream?" she asked finally, before shaking her head. "No, Ichigo, I don't know what this is but it's not good. You can't just summon up a second Zanpakutou from a memory."

Ichigo could have almost laughed. A memory – that was exactly what it was.

"I'm taking you to Urahaya's Shop." She grabbed at his wrist, latched on and dragged him forward, into town, away from home. Away from bed, he realised grumpily

_Oh, crap_ he thought suddenly. He'd hoped to keep this whole Senna memory thing a secret for some time, infinitely if possible, because no-one was going to believe him. No-one would believe that he had been gifted a ribbon containing a memory which he could now conjure up, and which would appear at its own accord occasionally, over the idea that he was simply mad.

At least Urahaya might believe him though… even if he didn't admit it, he was sure Urahaya must remember something of what went on, or at least that if he knew enough about the principal of the thing, Ichigo might actually be able to at least convince him he had retained his memories of the incident. He knew everything else afterall. He hoped he knew. He needed someone who would believe him, now that he would be forced to tell his tale.

Ichigo sighed, and followed her without arguing. Much.


	7. Urahaya's Shop

**Urahaya's Shop**

* * *

Ichigo had two main views about Urahaya-san. Either, he was completely mad, or he was a complete genius. Urahaya himself attempted to be, and saw himself as a balanced mixture of the two, and as far as he was concerned, usually achieved this quite handily, regardless of the occasion.

"Well," said Urahaya, sitting on the floor beside a short, traditional style Japanese table. "I can't tell you much… the good news is that I _can _tell you that that is most definitely _not _your Zanpakutou, (no shit, thought Ichigo) nor does it seem to be a true extension of you. Obviously, it responds to you to a completely limited extent, but to be honest I have no idea how you came upon it."

Ichigo placed a hand on the small handle of the sword, which lay on the floor to his left, Zangetsu to his right, and pulled it again from its sheath. _Mirokumaru, _whispered Senna's voice in his mind. It was bizarre; it felt tiny in his grasp. He didn't voice how _he _thought it had come to him yet. "So, would I be able to unlock it?" He looked up at Urahaya, who pulled the sword lightly from his grip and held it up, and then laid it down, across his knees.

"I doubt it…" said Urahaya. "One of the main reasons I say that it doesn't in any way belong to you, is that this is a woman's blade…" He caught Rukia and Ichigo's bemused stares, and explained. "They are quite different, you should know that, surely? Not you Rukia? See… here, around the hilt and up the blade…" he explained, but looking again at their faces, and seeing that he was getting nowhere, he stopped himself, obviously with considerable effort.

"Oh, don't worry," he exclaimed, with a bit of a hang dog face at not being understood waving a hand, narrowly missing Ichigo's nose, who flinched backwards, managing a glare as it flared across his line of sight. "It's quite a skill, or so I've heard, being able to spot the subtle differences. No, I would say it would be quite impossible for you to unlock this sword to shikai – I have only heard of one or two very rare cases when direct family could use each other's Zanpakutou to that level – and yet you say this one just appeared on you as if it were your own…? Kurosaki?" he asked suddenly, noticing that Ichigo was staring vaguely off behind his him towards an apparently bare section of panelled wooden wall.

Actually, he wasn't staring at the wall at all. He was staring at Senna. She had suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, in the blink of an eye, and was now standing just behind Urahaya. She gave him a cheerful little wave. He tried not to look surprised, but had apparently failed miserably. He dragged his gaze away from Senna and tried to position his focus back on Urahaya.

"You'll probably have to tell them about me now, you know," said Senna. She smiled, apparently unconcerned by this prospect.

"That's a very nice wall you were staring at, Kurosaki-san," said Urahaya lightly. "I particularly like the swirl patterns on the borders here," he said, running a finger up and down the side, his arm passing through Senna's chest – she stepped backwards, pulled herself up to her full height and glared at him.

"Tell him not to do that again," she said indignantly.

"Now tell me…" said Urahaya. "You come to me asking about this sword…" he said patting its hilt lightly "but I sense that you know more about it than you let on."

Senna leant forwards and poked her hand through the back of Urahaya's head several times, loudly exclaiming, "Pow!" each time she did so.

Rukia glanced at him, and then stared at Ichigo. "You know something else about this, Ichigo?" she asked, in an exasperated fashion, a manner which clearly said 'here we go again…'

"Pow! Pow!"

"No, I…" began Ichigo, but Urahaya cut him off, lifting the katana back up and placing it on the table in front of Ichigo.

"No buts, I need to know if you want to explain it to me…" said Urahaya.

"Pow! Pow!" shouted Senna again, this time placing a well aimed kick through Urahaya's chest.

Ichigo couldn't take it anymore. He leapt to his feet and pointed at Urahaya's face. "Shut up!"

The room was momentarily silent. Ichigo stared at his finger as if it had betrayed him. Rukia glanced at him, and then at his finger as if not quite believing where it was pointing either. Senna stepped back innocently, and leant up against the wall, folding her arms across her chest, and crossing her legs, relaxed. Urahaya managed a bemused smile.

"Kurosaki-san?" he asked very pleasantly. Ichigo feared for his life. Urahaya didn't get angry – he just got nasty – not dangerous nasty, but slugs-in-your-cake nasty.

Ichigo lowered his hand and shot Senna a glare, before sitting back down at the table. . His mind raced for a moment, trying to think of a reason why he may have leapt up and pointed at Urahaya and told him to shut up that didn't involve Senna. "Ahhh, I wasn't talking to you Urahaya-san," he managed dismally.

"I'll believe that," said Urahaya, "when you tell me just who you _were _talking to then."

He sighed. This was going nowhere in a hurry, unless… "I was talking to Senna," he said. He looked down at his lap. He half expected this to mean something to Urahaya, but worst came to worst, he believe he could prove it now. Rukia snorted, as Ichigo had expected she would – none of his friends had believed him that Senna had ever been anything more than a dream. Urahaya though…

"Senna is who exactly?" asked Urahaya, glancing at Rukia and seeing that she clearly already knew.

Rukia answered before Ichigo could get a word in. "Senna is a girl from a dream Ichigo had about Soul Society and the Real World colliding." Rukia paused and looked at Ichigo. "He told us all about it, and how it was real and we'd lost our memories of it but he'd been given it back by a ribbon… or something like that."

Urahaya frowned. "Well," he said. "He's right… the Real World and Soul Society did almost collide several weeks ago… but as always when dealing with a Memory Rosary, those involved all lost their memories of most of the details… It is possible that you were involved in it…" he said to Rukia and Ichigo, "although why Kurosaki-san would remember it clearly – I don't know."

Rukia huffed as if she couldn't believe it, as if it were all a conspiracy to make her look like she didn't know anything.

Urahaya paused. "And where is this girl exactly?" he asked, shading his eyes and looking wildly round the room as if he was surveying the land from a high peak on a bright day.

"She's right there, to your left… She's a memory… And, I think I can prove it if I have to," said Ichigo, dramatically.

"Hmm," mused Urahaya. "Memories of Somebody – that has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Anyway," he said, breaking out of a dreamlike moment, irritated stares bouncing off his green and white striped hat, "you said you could prove that this memory was real and not just a dream playing tricks on all of us?"

Ichigo frowned. He hadn't tried this yet, and he hadn't actually wanted to test it in case it made him look like a complete fool.

"Senna, come here could you?" he asked. He realised he would have to look like a complete dork to anyone else watching, let alone when a test of his sanity presided over by Urahaya, but it couldn't be helped. Senna hesitated for a moment, but then jumped through Urahaya and landed next to Ichigo, who got to his feet.

"Ok, Ichigo," she said seeming serious for the moment. "Call forth the twilight, you need to say… You say it with me, I'm sure it will work for us, _I _know what I'm doing, even if you don't."

"Pass me Mirokumaru, Urahaya-san," he said calmly.

"Kurosaki-san?" he asked, pausing momentarily, but then passing the katana over. "What are you going to do, Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo grasped the hilt of the katana. He felt Senna place one small hand beneath his, before he said, "This!"

A breeze lifted up in the small room, and Urahaya caught onto his hat. Before giving anyone a chance to think about what he was doing, and stop him, (this including himself) he spoke to the sword, Senna's voice echoing eerily in harmony with his, as she spoke the words along with him.

"Call forth the twilight, Mirokumaru!"

Almost to as much to his surprise as to the others, the sword glowed, and its handle lengthened and absorbed most of the blade into a golden shaft which was unbroken by any adornment. One end lengthened into a spear point, while the other formed a loop, with four rings running through it. The winds within the room picked up briefly, and autumn leaves appeared, seemingly from mid air to rush around the room. At Ichigo's will, the wind died down. It was a strange feeling, a power responding to his mind, a khido based Zanpakutou was something completely different to his own, Zangetsu, who was almost purely oriented around direct combat, strength and speed.

One red-gold leaf came to rest upon Urahaya's hand, holding his hat down, and it fell to the ground as he lowered his hand in the now stillness of the room. There was silence.

"I think I truly believe you now, Kurosaki-san" said Urahaya, quietly, finally, his eyes resting on the golden spear that was Mirokumaru. Fascination gleamed there, a trace of his leadership, and in fact, instatement, of the research and development squads so many years ago perhaps, the fascination of someone who though they had seen everything something or somebody had to offer, to be surprised by something completely new, or an ancient and exceedingly rare phenomena. But it was layered deeply, covered by something that could almost have been concern.


	8. To Remember All

**To Remember All**

* * *

Urahaya hadn't seen anything like it in years, or at least so he said. Ichigo went on to explain how the Memory Rosary had not been what Soul Society had been expecting – it had in fact been a human, well, a conglomeration of memories which was so human she may as well have been.

Mirokumaru now once again sheathed, lay to Ichigo's left, restored to its normal form.

Of course, thought Urahaya, slightly surprised by this revelation, it was possible that the Memory Rosary had taken human form in all the past Valley of Screams Crises. Little was in fact known about the events of each Crisis, as as is obvious, everyone involved always lost their memories. Years back, Urahaya himself had been involved in a number of the crises, but had never been able to develop something which would allow him to retain memories of it, despite his best efforts.

He poked at the small, plastic ornamental orange sitting in front of him in its bowl on the table. The orange moved forwards slightly, and the balance was lost, a small strawberry plopping off the edge to roll across the table, ending up directly in front of Ichigo.

Ichigo looked up at him, wondering momentarily what he was thinking and if he'd even understand it or not, before continuing on about more recent events – his finding of the ribbon, the night on the ferris wheel and his conversation with Hichigo.

At the mention of the Hollow, and the red ribbon, Urahaya suddenly looked up sharply. "Where exactly is this ribbon?" he asked.

Ichigo noticed Rukia likewise frowning to herself. _Looks pretty emo when she's wrong, don't she? _asked Hichigo in his head. It was not a question, but a statement. Ichigo acknowledged briefly, and decided to deal with Hichigo later…

Ichigo frowned, before shrugging his shoulders. "Give me your ribbon, could you Senna?" he asked.

Senna put out her bottom lip. "But…"

"No buts… I gave it to you, I need it now, just for a while, you can have it back straight away," he said to her.

Senna went as if to sigh, but halted herself part way, and instead raised her hands up behind her head, and undid the ribbon. Her shoulder length black hair spilled out over her light brown shirt, looking out of place around her face.

She passed the ribbon to him.

This time, as Ichigo watched it, it changed. It flickered momentarily, seeming to vanish for a second as it passed from her hand to his. And then it was normal again.

"Thanks, Senna," he said quietly to her. She gave him a smile, which could have been a grimace or could have said "It's nothing," and turned around and walked across the room to stand directly in front of Rukia.

"Ah," said Urahaya. "I see you found your ribbon, Kurosaki-san…" He was staring right at Ichigo's hand now – he could clearly see it now, as if in the second it had flickered, it had become real.

Urahaya held out a hand towards it, and Ichigo, slightly unwillingly passed it over. Urahaya took it gently from him, and ran his hand along its length in much the same way as he had Mirokumaru.

Ichigo turned his gaze away from him, back to Senna, who was busy bending over next to Rukia. As he watched, she straightened up and turned back to him. "See!" she shouted across the table, from next to where Rukia sat silently, watching proceedings. "I'm almost exactly the same height as her… And you never called _her _small."

_That's cause Senna don't rip peoples arms out of their sockets when she's angry, _said Hichigo.

_Shut up, _replied Ichigo angrily. _What's with you all of a sudden anyway? _

Hichigo didn't answer, but suddenly Ichigo did realised that Urahaya was talking to him again. He looked up from the strawberry on the table, and looked instead at Urahaya, trying to catch onto whatever he'd missed.

"… so, you see, Ichigo, I'm afraid to say I actually have no idea what this ribbon is or where it could have come from – I can only assume from your tail that before dying the Memory Rosary Senna forged it from the power of the Blanks, a kind of memory time bubble which would contain all you remembered of her… and yet it seems to have gone several steps further than that, although how, I'm not entirely sure. It may be a product of the ribbon feeding off your own excess spirit power, certainly not many Shinigami have such uncontrollable power within them, the only other I know of on a par with controlling their energy is the current Kenpachi. I suppose it is possible, although it is equally possible that the Memory Rosary intended it to function this way…"

He trailed off, clearly at a loss as to what to say, for perhaps the first time since Ichigo had met him – not knowing something was not something Urahaya had much experience with, never having really got much practice in at it.

"I'm afraid that all you can do about this is take it as it comes… I'm sure that after dealing with Hichigo, a small girl can't be much of a problem..."

Ichigo winced as Urahaya said this. As he expected, a "small girl" suddenly appeared beside Ichigo and glared at him. "You tell them I'm not that small!" she said, holding arms straight beside her, her hands clenched into fists.

He wondered briefly if fighting Hichigo again wouldn't have been easier, but didn't say it. Beside Urahaya, Senna broke into a grin. "The faces you pull…" she laughed.

Ichigo scowled at her, and Urahaya, catching his gaze smiled to himself, and continued under his breath… "or not."

"But clearly you're going to have to be prepared for changes in your reiatsu… that sword," Urahaya said, pointing at Mirokumaru, "is likely not the last thing that will change."

"Having… Senna," he continued, using her name without 'memory rosary' attached to it for the first time, "could change your powers and techniques as much as your original encounter with Zangetsu, and later the addition of Hichigo."

_I doubt it, _sniggered Hichigo in his head.

_Shut up. _

Ichigo looked around the room, and his eyes settled on Senna. She smiled back at him. Maybe she could. He didn't know, nor did he really care.

Only one thing really mattered. He remembered all.

* * *

_AN) That's pretty much where I want to leave this story for now, so I'm making this the end. Quite nice, I thought. I probably should have left it at "to see the World In Black and White," but oh well. I actually have another 10 pages of stuff in this doc, I couldn't work out to end it quickly, so I've settled for a semi-ending. Next chap is just stupid… But anyway, the point is that this is to be continued but may not ever have anything added to it, so treat it as in individual story. There may be more at a later date picking up from this point, this is just setting a scene which I find interesting, and I really need to get on with Shades of Madness, something I've been writing for over a year, but haven't really written anything for in months.. Nobody expect anything else, but if it happens, won't it be nice? Reviews telling me to write some more are at this point in order, but I am a lazy mongrel, so don't expect anything, that's why I left it at this point, as I thought it was quite a nice spot, not as nice as at the end of the aforementioned chapter, but oh well, you can't have everything. I do believe I have put "Finished" on this story, as I'm sticking it all up at once. So, If and when someone reads a story which means nothing and they go, where the hell is he coming form?, they need to read this first, as I will be writing in an AU set in this story… It will have a different name… I have already started work on it and I believe it will be called "The Dark One", as I already have it about half ready.__ This damnable thing was originally intended as a one-hit for my sister's birthday and it sortof grew and grew and grew. I hate it when that happens, which is every time I write a story. Anyway, adios, goodbye all that stuff. Hoping poor liddle Jenwryn enjoyed. (End Drivel)  
_


	9. The Woes of Kon

**The Woes of Kon**

* * *

He couldn't believe it. He'd been forgotten. Again. Shut in a steel suitcase, and abandoned by everyone, he had long since given up on shouting to be released. He hoped only that sooner or later Ichigo would arrive home, and he would either keep him awake or be let out. That had been his main thought for several hours now, but Ichigo had not arrived. It was totally typical, he thought, for the starring character to be conveniently tucked out of sight. That's why they were always going to Soul Society, or Hueco Mundo, or some other Kon-forsaken location… to avoid putting him on the big screen. Well, damn them all. They wouldn't be getting him to announce any more of those blasted popularity polls for them, they'd have to manipulate some other poor character into doing it for them. Especially after the indignity of a Zanpakutou poll. And now they were forcing this job on him, sitting in a damn suitcase, what kind of cold hearted author thought that one up?

_I can get one of the other mod souls to do it instead… _said the narrator.

Kon sat up sharply, banging his head on the low ceiling of the case. Damn it, he thought, rubbing his stuffing. They had him cornered. No way was birdy, gumby or flopsy getting more air time than he was…

_Aright, aright! I'll put up with this indignity! _He screamed to the narrator. _Just make sure you don't shovel me away and forget all about me again!_

_Me? _Said the Narrator. _Forget? I didn't shovel you away by mistake. That was completely on purpose, since I thought that "The Woes of Kon" would make quite an amusing last chapter. _

_Oh. _Said Kon. _So, ya did it on purpose did ya? _He snarled. _I'm only going to keep to what you say if you give me something in return. _

_How about an introduction to Nel? _

_Oh. Alright. _


End file.
